Fishermen and motorboat enthusiasts frequently transport their boats on a trailer to and from a body of water. Outboard motorboats and motorboats provided with an inboard engine and an outdrive unit generally are hauled on trailers, with the outboard motor mounted on the transom of the boat, or the outdrive unit extending from the stern of the boat. Boat trailers necessarily have the taillights and brake lights mounted at a generally low level above the road surface; and the boat is located on the trailer above the level of these lights. The reason for this is that the trailer acts as a supporting frame for the underside of the boat to permit the boat to be released from and moved onto the trailer when the trailer is backed into the water.
Because of the low position of the taillights on boat trailers, the lights are frequently difficult to be seen by a driver in a vehicle following the trailer. The taillights and brake lights of automobiles and other vehicles generally are mounted at a rather high level. In addition, newer vehicles all carry a centrally-located, high-mounted brake light to improve the chances of a vehicle being seen by a following vehicle whenever the brakes are applied. As a consequence, when the only lights visible to a following vehicle are low mounted lights on a trailer, a safety hazard is present, creating the potential for a collision between a following vehicle and the protruding drive of an outboard motor or the outdrive unit of an inboard/outboard combination.
In order to improve the visibility of a boat being towed on a trailer to following vehicles, various attempts have been made in the past for providing higher-mounted brake lights or taillights to be seen by following drivers. Two such attempts, which require some modification to the boat itself, are disclosed in the United States patents to Blackard U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,022 and Livingston U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,228. In both of these patents, the boat which is to be towed is itself provided with a set of lights mounted near its stern, or on the transom. These lights then are provided with a cable for connection to the taillight assembly of the towing vehicle. A problem with the devices of both Blackard and Livingston, however, is that a modification of the boat itself is required in order to provide the higher-mounted taillight/brake light lights. The boat must be designed for this purpose. Most boats, however, are not so designed.
Another approach which has been taken is disclosed in the United States patent to Cribbs U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,886. This patent is directed to a light mounted to the outside housing or cowling of an outboard motor, which then may be connected to the lights of the trailer on which the boat and motor are being towed. The light is permanently mounted on the motor cowling, and remains in place even when the boat and motor no longer are on a towing trailer. An early design for providing a safety light for towed outboard motor boats is disclosed in the United States to Smihal U.S. Pat. No. 3,080,581. The device of this patent includes a transverse bar having a pair of lights on it. The bar is attached to a clamp which encircles the drive shaft housing of an outboard motor. An electrical connection between the lights on the bar with the light system for the trailer is provided. The entire assembly is removed from the drive shaft housing when the boat is to be removed from the trailer. The nature of this device is that through vibration, as the boat is being towed, the orientation of the lights can shift; and the entire assembly can move downwardly on the motor housing, unless it is very tightly clamped in place. The spring-like clamp which is disclosed, however, is not adjustable; so it would need to be custom designed for each of the different shapes of drive shaft housings on different makes and sizes of motors.
The United States to Altimus U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,875 discloses an inboard/outboard motor cover, which essentially is in the form of a large bag for completely covering the outdrive unit of an inboard/outboard motor on a boat. The bag has a light mounted near its upper side, at the rear, for connection with the taillight wire of a boat trailer; so that this light is illuminated when the taillight on the trailer is illuminated.
Yet another approach is shown in the United States patent to Whipple U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,073. Whipple addresses the problem by providing a customized housing mounted on the skeg of an outboard motor, below the propeller. The housing is held in place with a clamping bolt threaded through the housing against the skeg to lock the housing in place on the outboard motor. A light in the housing is connected to the trailer lights for illumination in conjunction with those lights. Unless the clamping bolt is very securely tightened on the skeg, vibration during towing of this unit could cause the unit to shake loose and drop to the ground, because of its location on the bottom of the skeg. In addition, potential damage to the paint or finish of the skeg is possible because of the nature of the clamping bolt used to secure the unit to the skeg. It also should be noted that the skeg is the lowermost location on the drive shaft assembly of an outboard motor or an outdrive unit; although when the boat is towed with the motor tilted or locked in its upright position, the skeg tends to be the rearmost portion of the motor unit.
It is desirable to provide a warning light for a towed boat having an outboard motor or an outdrive unit on it, which light is quickly and easily attached to the outboard motor or outdrive unit, which is not subject to the disadvantages of the prior art devices discussed above, and which easily can be seen by the driver of a vehicle following the towed boat.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved safety light warning system.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved safety light warning system for outboard motorboats or inboard/outboard motorboats while they are towed on a trailer.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide an improved safety light system for mounting on the drive shaft housing or outdrive housing of the motor on a towed motorboat.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a warning light for releasable attachment to the anti-cavitation plate of the drive shaft housing of an outboard motor or of an outdrive uniton a boat to place the warning light at a relatively high level when the boat is being towed on a trailer.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a safety light assembly is designed for use with an outboard motor or the outdrive unit of a motor mounted on a boat carried on a trailer. This assembly includes a housing with a central light-supporting portion on it. This housing also has first and second flanges located on opposite sides of the central light-supporting portion. A light is attached to the central light-supporting portion of the housing; and devices are provided for securing the first and second flanges to the anti-cavitation plate on the drive shaft housing of the motor, with the flanges overlying the plate while the securing devices hold the flanges in place on top of the anti-cavitation plate. An electrical connector is provided to interconnect the light with a source of electrical energy, which in a more specific embodiment, is provided by the taillights of the trailer on which the boat is carried.